Glendale school board confident in their pick for superintendent
Glendale school board members Tuesday night expressed confidence in their choice of Winfred Roberson as the district’s next superintendent, a role he is expected to start in April, according to school officials.
The school board plans to vote on his contract during a meeting on Feb. 16, when Roberson is expected to make his first public appearance at Glendale Unified.
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“We’re very pleased with the results of our search, mostly that they finished, and that we have an awesome superintendent that we’re looking forward to leading this district,” said Christine Walters, school board president, adding that his personality and experience in education makes him a good fit for Glendale Unified.
“If you watch any of our meetings, you might notice we might not always agree on everything, and, while we did ultimately absolutely come to an agreement that Winfred was the right person for our district, the whole process of getting there took a lot of discussion, took a lot of discernment, took a lot of patience,” Walters said.
For his part, Roberson stated in an email on Wednesday: “I am excited about the prospect of joining the Glendale community and team.”
The Glendale school board began searching for a new superintendent after Dick Sheehan left the district in May to lead Covina-Valley Unified. The district is currently overseen by two co-interim superintendents, Joel Shawn and Marc Winger.
Last week, board members Armina Gharpetian, Jennifer Freemon and Nayiri Nahabedian traveled to Davis Joint Unified, where Roberson is currently superintendent, to interview members of the public about Roberson, and afterward, the local five-member board unanimously agreed to offer him the position.
“You guys will love Winfred,” Gharpetian said Tuesday night. “I think he’s a great match for our district. He will bring a lot of new ideas, and I guarantee you, it will be a great transition.”
Fellow board members expressed similar confidence in Roberson, including Greg Krikorian, who said that Roberson would begin his new job on April 1.
“I’ll be excited for the new era,” Krikorian said. “The key thing is the consensus. We, as a board, came together. I’m really confident that he’s going to be successful for our district. Once we do our final paperwork and do our final details, let’s win with Win,” Krikorian said, referring to Roberson. “Let’s rally behind him.”
Glendale Teachers Assn. President Taline Arsenian thanked the board for “a job well done” in choosing Roberson.
“We believe in you,” she said. “We trust in your decision-making.”
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
